Why So Stunned, Governor?

One moment Gov. Jennifer Granholm was the confident saleswoman, telling a receptive Flint audience Monday night that her plan to raise taxes and spend more on education would lift the state's economy.

Then, riding back to Lansing, the cell phone rang. Comerica Chief Executive Officer Ralph W. Babb Jr. was calling to give her a heads-up that he would announce the next morning he was moving the company's corporate headquarters from Detroit to Dallas.

So it was early March and a bank - part of the Detroit economy for about 157 years - was moving to greener pastures. Why so stunned, Governor?

You head off to Germany to beg for jobs, but you don't even know what is going on in your own backyard?

I keep hearing all kinds of psychobabble from your administration. "We need to attract the right companies to make the Michigan we want..." Yadda yadda.

I wonder why all this bad economic news sneaks up on you? You didn't know that Comerica, Michigan's largest bank, was unhappy here? You didn't know that Delphi Corp. was ready to call it a day in Michigan? You were surprised when Pfizer bailed on Ann Arbor? You were shocked when Ford went $12 billion in the toilet last year and announced a mass exodus of jobs from the state? You didn't forsee DaimlerChrysler getting rid of plants in Michigan?

Perhaps the problem has to do with a leader who doesn't understand economics, the need for businesses to make money, the realization that small business is screwed beyond belief in this state, and lack of realization that excessive taxes and regulations don't make Michigan an attractive place to work. Most leaders aren't so out of touch with the business world.